Lee Steinhauer drops out of HD 45 race, endorses Erin Huntley

Lee Steinhauer, the Winter Garden lawyer who filed last spring to challenge for the seat, ended his campaign Friday and threw his support behind Erin Huntley, the Orange County GOP Chair who has led the field from the start.

Steinhauer announced the decision on Facebook as the qualifying window closed, leading with his family.

“I also love my family more than anything in the world,” he wrote. “I have two young sons that I want to be there for as they grow up, and while running for political office can wait, their childhoods will not.”

He didn’t leave the politics on the table. Steinhauer cast his exit as a bid for Republican unity heading into a tough General Election.

“This will be a tough election cycle and having unity among Republicans will be critical to winning the seat back,” he wrote. “I believe Erin Huntley is a great candidate. She is also a friend … I fully endorse her and hope everyone will rally around her.”

The withdrawal clears Huntley’s path to a one-on-one with Democratic Rep. Leonard Spencer in November — the matchup Republicans have wanted since she filed.

“Thank you, Lee Steinhauer, for your support and your commitment to our community,” Huntley wrote. “Elections are a team sport, and I’m thankful to have Lee as part of ours. On to November!”

HD 45, which sprawls across Orange and Osceola counties, is a priority flip target for Republicans. Spencer unseated Republican Rep. Carolina Amesty by roughly 1,600 votes in 2024 — the only race in Florida where a Democrat knocked off a sitting Republican. He is also the only Democrat in the House holding a district where voters chose Donald Trump over Kamala Harris, a distinction that has kept the seat near the top of every target list in Tallahassee.

Huntley filed in January 2025 and built a commanding operation, raising more than $252,000 by the end of last year while stacking up establishment endorsements — among them U.S. Reps. Daniel Webster and Mike Haridopolos, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Attorney General James Uthmeier, and Osceola Sheriff Christopher Blackmon. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to the Florida Virtual School Board of Trustees earlier in the cycle.

Steinhauer, president of The Steinhauer Group and author of “The Art of the New Cold War,” filed in April 2025 and loaned his campaign $20,000, but never closed the money gap. He had run once before, entering the HD 44 contest in 2020 before withdrawing ahead of that Primary.

He signed off Friday with a nod to history — and a hint he isn’t finished. Quoting Ronald Reagan after the Gipper’s narrow 1976 loss to Gerald Ford, Steinhauer wrote: “I shall rise and fight again.”

“This is not the end,” he added. “It is only the beginning.”

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— Ed. note: This story was drafted with assistance from AI. Editorial judgment, sourcing, and final review were performed by Peter Schorsch and the Florida Politics editorial team.